Page 98 of Bad Demon

“Like that, is it?”

“Somehow, I need to convince her to let me get close again, so I can explain what’s happening between us, but I’m not sure that’s gonna be easy.”

I’d been outside her new place every night, making sure she was safe. I hadn’t seen her though, not since she thought she’d released me from her deal, and she hadn’t answered any of my texts or calls. I was pretty sure she’d blocked my numberfor my own good, and she had been ignoring calls from unknown numbers as well because I’d tried to call from several other phones.

“She’ll come around,” he said. “And if she doesn’t, we’ll grab her and bring her here, and you can keep her in your den until she does.”

I had no idea how to convince Fern I was the male for her, and I was getting desperate. The beast was more than ready to tear through the wards at that house, snatch her, and bring her home—but Fern’s choices had been taken from her so many times, by so many people. I could never do that to her.

“You want to do the smaller one first?” Rome asked.

I nodded, tied my hair out of the way, and sat in Rome’s chair. I wanted this tattoo even more than the Tinker Bell design. The lettering for the neck piece was bold but intricate, just like my female. I tilted my head while Rome transferred the design onto the side of my throat. Where Fern had fed from me for the first time, and also, I wanted it where everyone could see it. I wanted everyone to know I was hers and she was mine because whatever happened, that was the truth.

The buzz from the gun started, and I closed my eyes and let Fern fill my mind—every perfect inch of her—mind, body, and soul. My fucking body ached for her. The absence of her was like a physical pain, sharp and jagged. I thought about her hand on my chest that first time, and the air burst from my lungs. I wanted her hands on me again. I wanted her warmth beside me every night, her voice telling me good morning.

Rage slowly seeped in, and I tried to fight it back, but it was impossible. Her own coven had banished her, cut her out like a disease, because of the blood in her veins and the color of her eyes. They’d sold her to a monster—someone who had tortured her, scarred her, terrified her so badly that she wasn’t able to recognize when someone truly loved her, because I did. That’s what this huge feeling inside me was. It was love. It was pleasure and agony all rolled into one. A bone-deep wound that only Fern could heal.

The rage grew bigger until time passed in a blur of images in my head—of finding her the way I had in that room, of hunting down the ones who had hurt her and ripping them apart piece by bloody piece. Rome moved from my neck to my chest. My Devil Dogs ink was on one side, and Tink would be on the other, right beside my heart.

I opened my eyes when the buzz of the tattoo machine stopped. Rome held up a mirror. It was her, my Tink; she was under my skin, marking me the way I was desperate to mark her.

“Nice work, brother.” I stood, cracked my neck, and tried to shake off the fury pulsing through me.

“You heading to the pit?” Rome asked, not missing where I was at right then.

I nodded, clenching my fingers.

Somehow, I needed to get a handle on this anger before I did something I fucking shouldn’t.

* * *

FERN

I waved goodbye to Sutton and Phoebe, and Phoebe lifted her phone, reminding me to call if I needed them to come get me.

I gave her two thumbs-up and walked into the clubhouse, my heart hammering in my chest.

A hound I didn’t know had let me through the gates when I arrived. He said Relic was in the dens, then stunned me by giving me the code to go below ground before he went back to the garage. The code wasn’t given out to just anyone. The alpha’s mate and pup lived down there. Only those the hounds trusted completely were allowed to come and go on their own.

Relic had obviously told them to let me through if I showed up, but he would have had to have Warrick’s approval, and the alpha wouldn’t just agree to that, not if he saw me as some random female Relic was spending time with, right?

My pulse rushed faster, and my hands shook at what that could mean, at what my heart was trying to tell me it meant.

The big room was empty, which wasn’t normal. While I’d stayed here, there were always several hounds up here, drinking or hanging out or whatever. I strode to the door on the other side, feeling like I was doing something wrong and I was about to get caught at any moment. Like the hound who had let me in would realize his mistake, that I wasn’t who he’d thought I was, and toss me out. My nerves almost got the better of me.

I almost turned around and left, but instead, I took a steadying breath and punched in the code. Still, I hadn’t expected the door to open, that it was some trick. But the sound of the lock sliding free on the other side echoed through the door, and when I tried the handle, it opened.

I tried not to freak out as I walked through before shutting the door firmly behind me. I took the stairs as quietly as I could down to the dens because still, I felt as if I wasn’t supposed to be here. I quickly rushed along the main cavern to Relic’s quarters, and gathering my courage, knocked on the door.

But no one answered.

I tried the handle. It was locked.

Shit.

I really didn’t want to do this in front of an audience, but there was no other choice, obviously, so I headed to the common room, where the hounds often congregated, but I knew it was empty before I walked in. There was no rumble of voices or sounds from the TV or of them playing pool.

A roar echoed down the cavern, and I turned as cheers and howls followed.

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